Page 4B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, November 21, 2015
OTHER VIEWS
DraftKings, FanDuel wrong for now, but on right side
S
ay goodbye to all those
annoying commercials.
Forget about the
promise o winning millions
of dollars.
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what the rest of us already
know.
Daily fantasy games are
no different than putting
down a bet at the horse
track or handing over a few
bucks to your neighborhood
bookie.
Once we get past the
obvious — yep, FanDuel
and DraftKings are indeed
sports gambling, which
is against the law in most
places — we can move on
to the more important issue:
should this sort of wagering
be legalized?
Frankly, it’s long overdue.
People love to bet.
Always have, always will.
Might as well let them head
down to their local gaming
parlor or simply place a
wager on their smartphones.
As is often the case with
issues of social relevance,
the NBA is leading the way.
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Adam Silver, who one year
ago wrote
an op-ed in
The New
York Times
calling
for a new
approach
to the illicit
world of
Paul
Newberry gambling.
“Despite
AP Comment
legal
restrictions,
sports betting is wide-
spread,” Silver said then. “It
is a thriving underground
business that operates free
from regulation or oversight.
Because there are few legal
options available, those who
wish to bet resort to illicit
bookmaking operations and
shady offshore websites.”
FanDuel and DraftKings
brought it out into the open,
allowing gamblers — call
them what they are — to
wager each day on a group
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the fantasy sports model that
exploded in popularity over
the past few decades.
When those two Web
sites began raking in
millions, and began pouring
that money back into an
onslaught of television
commercials during the NFL
season, it was only a matter
of time before someone
noticed.
That someone was Eric
Schneiderman, who happens
to be New York’s attorney
general. Next week, he’ll
be in court arguing that
FanDuel and DraftKings are
running an illegal gambling
operation.
It doesn’t take a law
degree to know he’s right.
“My job is to enforce the
law,” Schneiderman wrote
Friday in his own op-ed in
the New York Daily News.
“For more than a century,
New York laws have banned
gambling. The few narrow
exceptions that exist — which
do not include sports betting
— all come with strong
regulation and oversight to
ensure fairness and protect
New Yorkers from fraud.”
Rightfully, he scoffed at
the companies’ argument
that they’re not bound by
gambling regulations because
they are games of “skill.”
There is no question the most
skillful players probably have
the best chance of winning,
but that applies to any form
of wagering.
Information always
improves the odds, whether
it’s reading the countless
books on the best ways to
play blackjack, to having
an inside tip on a horse’s
injury before the Kentucky
Derby, to coming up with a
complex set of algorithms
that gives a fantasy player
the best chance.
But nothing (except
SHUKDSV¿[LQJDVSRUWLQJ
event) guarantees a winner.
That’s when it becomes
gambling.
“FanDuel and DraftKings
have made the argument,
over and over ... that
they run ‘games of skill’
and are therefore legal,”
Schneiderman went on.
“This is nonsense. New
York law prohibits sports
wagering — betting money
on a future event outside
of the gambler’s control
— regardless of the skill
involved.”
OK, so that’s a slam dunk
for the attorney general.
But let’s get back to Silver.
Like Schneiderman, the
NBA commish is right, too.
He notes that times have
changed dramatically since
1992 when all the major
leagues, the NBA included,
pushed for Congress to
approve the Professional and
Amateur Sports Protection
Act, which generally
prohibits states from
legalizing sports betting
(Nevada and a handful of
states with licensed sports
pools were exempted).
“Gambling has increas-
ingly become a popular and
accepted form of entertain-
ment in the United States,”
Silver said. “Most states
offer lotteries. Over half of
them have legal casinos.”
He correctly notes that
plenty of countries around
the world allow betting on
professional sports, most
notably England, without
any major issues. For years,
one of the major arguments
against legalized gambling
was that athletes might be
swayed to throw games in
exchange for a big payout.
Multi-million-dollar
contracts have largely
removed that risk.
Besides, as Silver points
out, a legal but tightly
regulated betting system
would provide even more
assurance that everything is
on the up and up.
There are still issues to
sort out, from verifying that
players are old enough to
wager to coming up with
mechanisms to identify
and help those who have a
gambling addiction.
But that’s for down the
road.
In the short term, before
the courts deliver a devas-
tating blow, let’s give thanks
to FanDuel and DraftKings
for being on the right side of
this issue.
Even if they’re on the
wrong side for now.
———
Paul Newberry is a
national writer for The
Associated Press. Write
to him at pnewberry@
ap.org or at www.twitter.
com/pnewberry1963 . His
work can be found at http://
bigstory.ap.org/content/
paul-newberry
College Football
No. 24 Washington St sheds losing ways, earns respect
By NICHOLAS K.
GERANIOS
Associated Press
Washington State safety
Taylor Taliulu remembers the
lean years, when the Cougars
were barely a footnote in the
Pac-12 standings.
Now No. 24 Washington
State (7-2, 5-2 Pac-12) is the
surprise team of the league
and aiming for a prestige
bowl game.
“It’s honestly been a
roller coaster,” said Taliulu,
a senior whose Washington
State playing career has
included three losing seasons
before this campaign. “Ever
since my freshman year, it’s
like a total 360. All the hard
work, I’m happy to see it
paying off now.”
Washington State has
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season since 2003 and is
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since 2006, and the winning
is expected to continue.
The Cougars are 15-point
favorites on Saturday against
Colorado (4-7, 1-6) in
Pullman.
Featuring the nation’s top
passing attack, along with an
improved bend-but-don’t-
break defense, the Cougars
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six games, and are coming
off a 31-27 last-second win at
UCLA. The cardiac Cougars
have won three games in the
Colorado
#24 WSU
Buffaloes
Cougars
(4-7)
(7-3)
Saturday, 7:45 p.m.
at Martin Stadium, Pullman
TV: ESPN2
closing seconds this year,
something they couldn’t pull
off in the recent past.
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but as a team we expected
nothing else,” said linebacker
Peyton Pelluer. “In the fore-
front of our minds is to be
great and bring this program
some glory again.”
The season began disas-
trously for the Cougars as
they lost 27-24 to Portland
State of the FCS in the
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lower-division program in
Washington State history.
They’ve been rolling since,
highlighted by last-second
wins at Rutgers, Oregon and
UCLA. They lost to No. 15
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“It’s nice to see this team
grow and get these wins
we’ve been hungering for for
so long,” Pelluer said.
Star receiver Gabe Marks
said the team’s goal is to win
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games, and a bowl game, to
reach 10 wins.
That goal is not exactly
AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File
In this Oct. 24, 2015, ile photo, Washington State quar-
terback Luke Falk celebrates after defeating Arizona
45-42 during an NCAA college football game in Tucson,
Ariz. Quarterback Luke Falk has thrown for 4,067 yards
and a team record 35 touchdowns, breaking by one the
record shared by Ryan Leaf and Connor Halliday. Wash-
ington State leads the nation with 414 yards passing
per game.
consistent
with
coach
Mike Leach’s philosophy
of concentrating only on
winning the next play, and
letting the future take care of
itself.
Leach said the Cougars
need to ignore the national
ranking and the buzz around
the program.
The success “is a
byproduct of focusing on
individual plays,” Leach
said. “We’ve got to under-
stand that what we have been
doing up to this point is all
that’s important now.”
Leach’s exciting Air Raid
offense has been a natural
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school with a proud passing
tradition.
Quarterback Luke Falk
has thrown for 4,067 yards
and a team-record 35 touch-
downs, besting the mark
of 34 shared by Ryan Leaf
and Connor Halliday. Wash-
ington State leads the nation
with 414 yards passing per
game.
Marks,
the
leading
receiver in the Pac-12, caught
the winning touchdown in the
closing seconds at UCLA.
He leads a bevy of talented
receivers who are carving up
opposing defenses.
Leach thinks Falk, a
former walk-on, should be
a candidate for the Heisman
Trophy this year.
When you consider who
has elevated their team the
most, Falk is an obvious
choice, Leach said. “Every-
body needs to vote for Luke
Falk,” he said.
The defense, which
cost Washington
State
numerous games last year,
has improved under new
defensive coordinator Alex
Grinch. They still give up
30 points per game, but the
Cougars average 35.
Last year, the defense
didn’t have a clear identity,
and the players appeared
apathetic, Leach said. This
year’s team has received
clear messages from coaches,
and has responded by forcing
18 turnovers, a vast improve-
ment over last year’s eight.
“They believe in Grinch
completely and have bought
into everything he’s tried to
instill in them,” Marks said.
The bottom line is the
Cougars are a team to be
reckoned with, Pelluer said.
“We are not just irrelevant
like they have seen us in the
past,” Pelluer said. “It’s taken
awhile for teams to realize,
‘Yeah, these guys will punch
you in the mouth.”’
While the Cougars are
not eligible for the Rose
Bowl because of tiebreaker
scenarios, they are eyeing
one of the league’s top bowl
games, such as the Alamo or
Holiday.
Marks said they have
earned that much.
“People are not going
to give us respect until they
absolutely have to,” Marks
said. “And now they have
to.”
Adams gets his shot at Trojans Mitchell will play against Huskies
need Cal to defeat Stanford
in the annual Big Game on
Saturday.
#22 USC
#23 Oregon
USC controls its own
EUGENE — Vernon
Trojans
Ducks
destiny in the Pac-12 South.
Adams Jr. was a big USC
(7-3)
(7-3)
If the Trojans — who hold
fan growing up.
Saturday, 12:30 p.m.
the tiebreaker over Utah —
Oregon’s quarterback is a
at Autzen Stadium, Eugene win out against Oregon and
native of Pasadena, and like
TV: ESPN
in the rivalry game against
many kids who grew up in
UCLA, they’ll go to the
Southern California, he was
dazzled by the likes of Matt yards and four touchdowns. league championship.
HURTING: It’s been
A season out from an
Leinart and the Trojans of a
appearance in the national a tough week for the
decade ago.
Oregon Trojans, who lost their
“I used to go to all the championship,
home games,” he said. “It has struggled with losses starting inside linebackers,
was an honor seeing those to Michigan State, Utah freshman Cameron Smith
guys play, seeing how they and Washington State. But and senior Lamar Dawson,
the Ducks have won four to season-ending injuries.
got it done.”
Adams even has a tattoo straight and popped back Smith, who led the Trojans
with 78 tackles and also
that says “SC” with inter- into the national rankings.
Adams is leading the had three interceptions,
locking letters, similar to the
Trojans’ logo — although rebound. But as senior tore ligaments in his knee
now that he’s a Duck he transfer, he’ll have only one in last weekend’s victory
over Colorado. Dawson has
maintains it’s an homage shot at the Trojans.
“Our energy is high and a shoulder injury. Interim
to his Southern California
I’m trying to keep the guys coach Clay Helton said the
home, not the school.
Vernon will get a chance up and positive,” he said. Trojans expect to use four
to face the team he once “We have 11 more practices inside linebackers against
idolized on Saturday when in the regular season, these the Ducks, but wouldn’t
the No. 23 Ducks (7-3, are my last two home games reveal details.
JUJU HAS THE MOJO:
5-2 Pac-12) host the No. of my college career so
22 Trojans (7-3, 5-2) with ,¶P GH¿QLWHO\ H[FLWHG DQG USC sophomore receiver
conference championship having fun and keeping the JuJu Smith-Schuster was
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implications for both teams. energy high.”
Oh, and for the record, ists for the Biletnikoff Award
Adams, who played
three seasons at Eastern Adams patterned his game this week. He’s certainly got
Washington before joining more off of Reggie Bush an impressive resume with
63 catches for 1,160 yards
the Ducks, has been coming than Leinart.
Some other things to and 10 touchdowns.
into his own since returning
POLYNESIAN PRIDE:
IURPD¿QJHULQMXU\WKDWKDG consider when the Ducks
Oregon defensive lineman
hampered him since the host the Trojans:
IT’S COMPLICATED: DeForest Buckner as well
opener.
Last weekend in Oregon’s So about those Pac-12 as USC linebacker Su’a
game Cravens and Smith-Schuster
38-36 victory at Stanford, championship
Adams threw for 205 yards scenarios for both teams? were all announced as
and two touchdowns. In Oregon must beat USC and ¿QDOLVWV IRU WKH 3RO\QHVLDQ
each of the two prior games, Oregon State in the Civil Hall of Fame’s College
he’d thrown for 300 or more War, but the Ducks also Player of the Year Award.
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
CORVALLIS — Oregon
State’s Nick Mitchell was
listed as probable this
weekend. That’s good
news for the Beavers, who
were short on quarterbacks
heading into Saturday’s
game at home against Wash-
ington.
The Beavers (2-8, 0-7
Pac-12) remain without
freshman Seth Collins, who
showed promise earlier this
season but tweaked his knee
running backward in prac-
tice last month. This week,
coach Gary Andersen said
the Beavers had shut Collins
down for the season.
“It has to do with an
injury, period. I’ve had some
people that have had a ques-
tion out there. That is it. End
of story, exclamation point,”
Andersen said. “So he’ll be
back ready to go in January,
January 4th he’ll be ready to
roll.”
There were concerns
about Mitchell after he was
knocked out of last week-
end’s 54-24 loss at Cal by a
late hit.
Mitchell’s
possible
absence left the Beavers with
just one healthy option at quar-
terback, Marcus McMaryion,
who was Collins’ backup
earlier in the season until
Mitchell leapfrogged him on
the depth chart.
Offensive
coordinator
Dave Baldwin revealed this
week that junior tight end
Washington Oregon St.
Huskies
Beavers
(4-6)
(2-8)
Saturday, 3 p.m.
at Reser Stadium, Corvallis
TV: PACN
Brent VanderVeen likely
would have been the backup
if Mitchell was unable to go.
VanderVeen had taken some
snaps in practice.
Mitchell has thrown for
571 yards, three touchdowns
and four interceptions in
four games. He faces a chal-
lenge in the Huskies, who
top the conference in scoring
defense and are second in
total defense.
Andersen praised Wash-
ington’s defense as tech-
nically and fundamentally
sound, as well as athletic.
“And then they’re a smart
defense. Their goal is to line
up and pre-snap with some
confusion, but not to confuse
themselves,” Andersen said.
“That’s the sign of a defense
that can hold some things in
their head mentally and take
it from practice and then
apply it onto the football
¿HOG´
The Beavers haven’t
gone winless in Pac-12
play since 1997. But time
is running short to get a
conference win, with just
Washington (4-6, 2-5) and
No. 23 Oregon left on the
schedule.
WHAT’S AT STAKE:
Washington could still sneak
into the postseason with
victories over Oregon State
and No. 24 Washington State
in the Apple Cup next week.
“We’re down to two big
weeks and we’re not even
really talking about it in
terms of two big weeks,”
Washington coach Chris
Petersen said. “It’s one big
week for us to continue
to play at a high level on
defense and take the next
step on offense. Really that’s
what we’re talking about.”
Petersen, by the way, has
never coaches a team that
hasn’t gone to a bowl.
ABOUT THAT BOWL
(POSSIBLE) BERTH: The
Pac-12 has contracts with
seven bowl games, and
already eight teams are bowl
eligible. So if the Huskies
make it, they might be
looking at an at-large bid.
And, although it’s a total
longshot, there are enough
bowls this season that it’s
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FRXOG PDNH WKH ¿HOG 7ZR
new bowl games were added
this season, meaning that 80
eligible teams are needed.
HISTORY: Saturday’s
game will be the 100th
meeting between the two
teams. Washington holds
a 61-34-4 advantage in the
series, and is riding a three-
game winning streak.
The last time the Huskies
visited Corvallis was in
2013 and they won 69-27,
putting up the most points
ever allowed by the Beavers.